Tag Archives: Attorney General

AG opines against Early To Rise

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This kind of snuck in there. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion Monday saying a court would likely have found a petition effort last year to send a 1-cent property tax hike to voters to buoy local preschools … Continue reading →

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Dallas adopts plastic bag fee

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A fee, not a ban. Stores in Dallas will charge customers five cents for most kinds of plastic or paper carryout bags, under a measure approved Wednesday by the City Council. At the urging of council member Dwaine Caraway, the … Continue reading →

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Abbott sides with medical malpractice

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. The Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, accused of protecting a neurosurgeon who allegedly killed and maimed patients, gained an ally this week in Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Abbott filed motions to intervene in three separate federal court … Continue reading →

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Vote fraud by impersonation just doesn’t exist

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, if Greg Abbott can’t find it, who possibly could? Since taking office in 2001, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has called voter fraud an “epidemic,” and made cracking down on it a top priority. Now, as he runs for … Continue reading →

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Abbott comes out for inequality

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Turns out he’s been a practitioner of it for some time. Equal pay for women is in the spotlight of the Texas governor’s race, and figures from Attorney General Greg Abbott’s state agency show most female assistant attorneys general make … Continue reading →

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What anti-gay bills?

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From Lone Star Q: Ken Paxton, the odds-on favorite to be Texas’ next attorney general, says he isn’t familiar with recent “license to discriminate” bills in Arizona, Kansas and other states even though he co-authored a similar measure in 2013. … Continue reading →

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AG opinion sought on bag bans

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever. As proponents continue to tout the benefits of banning plastic bags, the debate over whether Texas cities like Austin actually have the ability to enact such ordinances has made its way to the attorney general’s office. In a letter … Continue reading →

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What will The Dew do this time?

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Go negative or go home is the strategy the pundits have selected for him. Political experts have a bit of advice for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s re-election campaign: go negative or go home. The incumbent Senate president was crushed in … Continue reading →

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The UT/TT primary polls were completely useless

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I expressed my contempt with the UT/Texas Trib’s Democratic primary poll result for the US Senate race last night, which they richly deserved. Sure, pollster Jim Henson admitted that “the first person to raise some money and run some ads … Continue reading →

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Next steps in the Texas same sex marriage lawsuit

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

In case you were wondering, Attorney General and candidate for Governor Greg Abbott will appeal Wednesday’s historic ruling striking down Texas’ constitutional amendment barring same sex marriage. The state of Texas has officially given notice that it is appealing a … Continue reading →

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BGT fires back

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Allegations that Battleground Texas broke the law during its voter registration activities are “entirely without foundation,” the Democratic group wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Tuesday. Dewhurst, citing a secretly recorded video of … Continue reading →

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Davis officially supports same sex marriage

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Right on. Sen. Wendy Davis said Thursday that she supports same-sex marriage and that Attorney General Greg Abbott, her presumed general-election opponent in the race for governor, should stop defending the state’s ban. “It’s my strong belief that when people … Continue reading →

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School finance retrial wraps

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’re back where it all began. The Texas Legislature failed to bridge funding gaps between wealthy and poor school districts despite partial restoration of funds that were cut, lawyers representing schools told a state district judge Friday. “They have put … Continue reading →

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Pity the poor Hispanic Republicans

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’d say I feel sorry for them, but I don’t. Every few years, I like to check in with Massey Villarreal to see if he’s still a Republican. He still was on Thursday. But it’s getting harder all the time. … Continue reading →

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More on the audit letters

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron asks some outside experts to go over those recently released audit letters. Houston leaders appeared to have ignored the significance of recurring accounting and management problems or did not have the resources to fix them, according to accounting … Continue reading →

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On succeeding Abbott as AG

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The next Attorney General will inherit a lot of Greg Abbott’s unfinished fights, some of which he instigated and some of which were thrust upon him by the Lege. Defending the constitutionality of the state’s controversial public school finance system … Continue reading →

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Pay no attention to Mark Jones

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is a really bad idea. At least for the time being, the Republican primary is the decisive election for the governance of Texas. In contrast, the most pressing issue facing Houston-area Democratic primary voters will be whether they prefer … Continue reading →

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Too old for death

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating story about Texas’ oldest inmate on death row. He’s been there for 36 years. Two weeks after he turned 40, Jack Harry Smith showed no signs of letting middle age slow him down. So on the first Saturday in … Continue reading →

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Audit letters

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a thing called audit letters that I hadn’t known existed. We’ve got them for Houston, but we had not been making them public even though other cities do as a matter of course. Houston officials have blocked the release … Continue reading →

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Federal judge denies Abbott motion to consolidate same sex marriage lawsuits

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From Lone Star Q: A key hearing in a federal lawsuit challenging Texas’ same-sex marriage bans will go forward next month in San Antonio. U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia, of the Western District of Texas, on Wednesday rejected Texas … Continue reading →

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January finance reports for Democratic statewide candidates

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

With the exception of a stray missing report here and there, all of the January campaign finance reports for state office holders and seekers are up on the Texas Ethics Commission webpage. Here’s a brief look at the reports filed … Continue reading →

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School finance retrial, Day One

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off, again. Back in the courtroom after a 2013 legislative session in which lawmakers added money back to the state public education budget, lawyers representing nearly two-thirds of Texas school districts argued on Tuesday that the funding boost … Continue reading →

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Parker 2018

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It seems pretty certain that a statewide candidacy is in Mayor Parker’s future. LSQ: What’s next for you after your term expires at the end of 2015? There’s been a lot of talk that you will run for statewide office … Continue reading →

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Who enforces voter registration requirements?

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

My guess upon reading this is in effect nobody. A combination of lax enforcement in the state’s election code, a faulty voter registration system and lack of leadership by state election officials have led to the disenfranchisement of thousands of … Continue reading →

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Sam Houston files for AG

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. Democrat Sam Houston filed for attorney general Thursday, promising to return the office to it’s basic functions of “serving all Texans” rather than “partisan lawsuits and constant disputes with the federal government.” The Houston Democrat said specifically he … Continue reading →

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Wendy Davis needs to push back on Texas’ refusal to comply with the law on military same-sex benefits

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The sooner the better. This is a no-brainer, and a win all around. Texas Gov. Rick Perry stood his ground [last] Friday in a showdown with the Pentagon over processing benefits for same-sex couples at National Guard offices, possibly setting … Continue reading →

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Van de Putte update

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Senator Leticia Van de Putte was at an Annie’s List event for Sen. Wendy Davis in San Antonio on Monday, and while the attention was on Davis, everyone wanted to know what was up with Van de Putte, too. Davis … Continue reading →

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No action from Fifth Circuit yet

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

HB2 is still enjoined. The Texas attorney general’s office is seeking an emergency stay, asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel’s ruling against abortion regulations in House Bill 2. Beginning Tuesday, abortion … Continue reading →

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Sam Houston officially announces for AG

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Houston attorney and fortuitously named Democrat Sam Houston announced Thursday his plans to make a statewide run at Attorney General, making him the first Democrat to officially toss his hat in the ring. Houston, who received the most votes … Continue reading →

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Kinky for Ag Commish, Sam Houston (maybe) for AG

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

One and a half candidate announcements to note from the weekend. First, from the Trib, is the quadrennial appearance of Kinky Friedman. Singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist and former Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman will run for the Democratic nomination to … Continue reading →

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Democratic ballot update

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte: State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte of San Antonio is exploring a run in 2014 as the Democratic challenger in the lieutenant governor’s race, but she said there is still a lot to consider. “We’ve … Continue reading →

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More Democratic statewide possibilities

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From this story about Democratic hopes for Wendy Davis’ presumed gubernatorial candidacy comes these tidbits about who else might be on the ticket with her. State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, told Express-News columnist Gilbert Garcia this month that he … Continue reading →

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Van de Putte for Lite Gov?

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, please. Democratic operatives are scouring Texas to find worthy statewide candidates to run on a 2014 ticket with Sen. Wendy Davis. Davis is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether she’ll challenge for governor or opt to seek … Continue reading →

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No Early To Rise on the ballot

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Place your bets on the outcome of the litigation. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Monday he would not place a 1-cent property tax on the November ballot intended to buoy area pre-schools, prompting a lawsuit by a local nonprofit … Continue reading →

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